Chelsea V Blackburn 15 September 2007

[Eddie]

He was behind the ball though, so we caught a break, but we deserve the odd decision to go our way, it's about time that things started to "even out". We played well, we didn't create much which was a shame as we were in position to a few times, but our overall all play was very good and nice to watch. Friedel was back to his best, good to see after he had a relatively poor start to the season by his standards.

[Alan75]

Hughes + latest on Samba (Official)

They've been reading

He has come round has been chatting to team mates and should travel home with the squad.

BRFCS NEWS

[Torgeir]

Never offside. We've become a difficult team to beat, a team with a lot of hard-workers even though we didn't do much with the ball when we won it today. With a bit of luck Robbie and Morten could've scored one each and without Brad (MOTM 10 - world class) and with a proper linesman we would've lost the game by a couple of goals. We deserved that "luck" though and over the course of a season it's something that'll even out between all the different teams. Except maybe ManU at Old Trafford.

[LeChuck]

Bloody hell, how can some of you lot watch the game without knowing the rules?

If the player is behind the ball when it is played then they're not offside. It's not difficult is it?

It was a perfectly good goal and we were fortunate to get that point today. No doubt we'll get some equally dodgy decisions against us as well which will cost us points.

There you have it. Offside.

As someone who goes completely over the top when decisions go against us, I thought you'd at least have the good grace to admit when we had a bit of good fortune.

[USABlue]

We got a fair ref and a linesman who spotted the man offside but not the ball travelling marginally backwards- phew!

The ball did not travel marginally backwards it was a forwards pass, if you see my earlier post that's why I though he was offside too.

[thebigguy]

have to say a big shame for big sam and i hope he is alright.

nothing new by mourinho eh blaming something else and why dont we hand him the FUKING RULE book instead off him handing it to the forth official when it was clearly not a goal

Also doesnt matter if ball going forward or backwords if player is offside they are offside once the ball is hit

Despite dropping two points, José Mourinho was satisfied with his team's performance against Blackburn, and insists we deserved all three.

'We lost two points in a performance where I have only good things to say about my players,' Mourinho said. 'A team without big ammunition, without the two target strikers, Didier, Pizarro and without a top scorer like Lampard.

'The team played well against a good team that fought a lot to keep the clean sheet and go home with a point.'

Despite dropping two points, José Mourinho was satisfied with his team's performance against Blackburn, and insists we deserved all three.

'We lost two points in a performance where I have only good things to say about my players,' Mourinho said. 'A team without big ammunition, without the two target strikers, Didier, Pizarro and without a top scorer like Lampard.

'The team played well against a good team that fought a lot to keep the clean sheet and go home with a point.'

Despite dropping two points, José Mourinho was satisfied with his team's performance against Blackburn, and insists we deserved all three.

'We lost two points in a performance where I have only good things to say about my players,' Mourinho said. 'A team without big ammunition, without the two target strikers, Didier, Pizarro and without a top scorer like Lampard.

'The team played well against a good team that fought a lot to keep the clean sheet and go home with a point.'

'For such a dominant team, it's not enough, but again I think Aston villa and Blackburn have some responsibility on that because they defended tremendously well with committed teams to keep a clean sheet,' he said, before cheekily adding: 'Villa were successful and Blackburn only conceded one goal, which is not bad for the attacking Chelsea did.

'To be fair Brad Friedel made two fantastic saves at least. We did what we could, not one striker on the bench, but played well enough with a great spirit and great attitude. Goals will arrive, but today we scored a goal that gives three points but we finish only with one point.'

Although clearly unhappy with the officials' decision to rule Kalou's effort out, Mourinho was full of praise for the opposition, who he said 'came here with a very good attitude to play'.

'They started the game very well, but I think Chelsea pushed them back. If the bus was there it was not because they want, it was because Chelsea press and press and press. They defended because Chelsea pushed them, I respect their performance. I have not one single negative thing to say about Blackburn,' Mourinho added.

Rovers manager Mark Hughes also had kind words for his team, who are unbeaten since defeat to us in the FA Cup semi final back in April.

'I thought we stuck at it today, I think in the first half we were a bit guilty of playing too much in our own half and allowed ourselves to be pegged back,' Hughes said.

The former Chelsea star added: 'I've sensed a different mentality in the dressing room, and the qualities the group is showing at the moment enable you to come to places like Stamford Bridge and get something out of the game people wouldn't expect.'

[1864roverite]

6 minutes and 46 seconds on motd, is that some kind of record for Rovers ??

For me it wasnt offside when the ball was passed across he WAS offisde seconds before when the first ball went forward.

A quote from moanlaot on the cfc website

"I have nothing negative to say about Blackburn Rovers, they are a solid side who play football like it is, the onoly reaon the bus was there is that chelsea press them"

now then wtf is all that about then?

[USABlue]

In Mark Hughes's post match interview he comes down on the side of the linesman by saying that the offside was correct. Cue for John Howarth to explain the decision and put us all right...........

So I am NOT totally losing it? If it is just the man has to be behind then he was not offside if it is a ball direction thing then he was offside.

[LeChuck]

So I am NOT totally losing it? If it is just the man has to be behind then he was not offside if it is a ball direction thing then he was offside.

It's onside USA, there's no two ways about it.

The direction of the ball is irrelevant, it's just where the player is when it is passed. In this case Kalou was behind it, so he wasn't offside.

[JAL]

Bloody hell, how can some of you lot watch the game without knowing the rules?

If the player is behind the ball when it is played then they're not offside. It's not difficult is it?

It was a perfectly good goal and we were fortunate to get that point today. No doubt we'll get some equally dodgy decisions against us as well which will cost us points.

As someone who goes completely over the top when decisions go against us, I thought you'd at least have the good grace to admit when we had a bit of good fortune.

Well said LeChuck, if the player wasnt in an offside position when the player playing the ball originally received it then if he stays behind the ball regardless of were the defenders are hes not in an offside position. Chelsea had a good goal cancelled out.

[USABlue]

It's onside USA, there's no two ways about it.

The direction of the ball is irrelevant, it's just where the player is when it is passed. In this case Kalou was behind it, so he wasn't offside.

Having become more learned through the reading of this wonderful online encylopedia we have here I agree. He was not offside then, clearly behind the ball when the pass was made. No argument to be had. I feel even better now, has lady luck finally returned to BRFC. Mr Souness must have really ###### her off.

[LeChuck]

I feel even better now, has lady luck finally returned to BRFC. Mr Souness must have really ###### her off.

Exactly. Anything that will annoy the hell out of Mourinho can only be a good thing.

[RevidgeBlue]

We were lucky with the offside goal, my initial reaction was it was clearly offside, but someone in the Pub correctly pointed out that the ball went marginally backwards on the cross and the Chelsea player (despite being the wrong side of the defence) was behind the ball therefore it was onside.

I groaned when I heard the referee was Howard Webb, but I felt after that after that West Ham debacle, he actually bent over backwards to give us most of the 50-50-s today. Previously unheard of against a top 4 side.

As for our performance, I thought we were superb fo the first 20 minutes and fairly ropey for the last 70 - we have to hope Samba's injury isn't long term, he's by far our best player on form and the rock around which our early season start has been built.

Disappointed with the front two today, McCarthy once again was a complete waste of space, he was too busy hugging and snogging Mourinho before kick off and Santa Cruz didn't work anything like as hard as he has done in previous games this season.

Nevertheless we haven't played that well today and still come away from the Bridge with a point. That says a lot for our "stickability" I said last week after the City game we were looking very hard to beat and hopefully that will continue to be the case, even when we're not on top form.

[Fife Rover]

Well all I can say about the "goal"is after watching it at least a dozen times in normal speed and every shade of slow motion from 1/8 speed to 1/2 speed and back again, is that the poor linesman who had to make a split second decision can very easily be forgiven if he got it wrong. For a start there are 3 Chelsea players involved in the scene and all of them are in advance of any Rovers defender as the ball is played in from the right wing by the RW player (Malouda?). Also the ball is played forward and past the guy in the middle of the 3 who makes no attempt to interfere. Then when No.21 who sticks it in the net gets the ball he has moved forward to do so and is only about 1yd off the goal line when he taps the ball in. I have looked at it time after time and still cant decide whether No.21 was behind the ball when the pass was made. What chance had the linesman of sorting all that out and getting it right?

Also what about all the fuss and hysteria coming from the media and from Moanio. I dont remember there being such a fuss made by the media last season when West Ham were given a "goal" also by a linesman's error that absolutely did not cross the goal line at all. The London media were quite happy with that mistake to go in favour of yet another of their London favourites and to hell with the consequences which in that case were very serious as it gave West Ham 3 points they should never have had and which kept them in Prem while at the the same time sending Sheff Utd down because of the mistake. Where was the outcry from the media then?

[Jan]

Well.

Just to let you know, little one and I found the game brilliant. He didn't much enjoy three women cruelly taunting him when the goal was offside, but he gave back as good as he got. We bought out the Chelsea store, but on the way down from our seat he said "I think that when Blackburn are playing Chelsea I'll support Blackburn". I can live with that.

Oh and by the way- what is Pedersen FOR? He's no use and he's certainly no ornament!!! And McCarthy won't have done himself any favours if he wants to go to Chelsea with that performance. Apart from that- heroics all around. Would have liked to see Derbs for the last 15 or so minutes, but we got what we went for. And we're unbeaten, which is nice.

[LeChuck]

What chance had the linesman of sorting all that out and getting it right?

I'm sure you'll be as understanding and forgiving when it happens to us.

I'm not sure what he had to sort out really, the two Chelsea players were ahead of our players. All he had to do was judge whether Kalou was behind the ball or not when it was passed.

Also what about all the fuss and hysteria coming from the media and from Moanio. I dont remember there being such a fuss made by the media last season when West Ham were given a "goal" also by a linesman's error that absolutely did not cross the goal line at all.

What hysteria?! Care to give some examples? MotD rightly said the decision was incorrect, but went on to point out that we could have had a penalty - implying that one could argue they balanced out.

Even on a day when we've got some good fortune you have to moan about little old Rovers being hard done to by the media and referees. Get a grip for Christ's sake.

[RoversFanUSA]

Hats off to Samba that crazy S.O.B.! Friedel was top notch as always that save in the first half..WOW!!!. I do have agree with the majority, it WAS onsides and we did get lucky but like it has been brought up we got screwed on the West Spam game last season so mabye USABlue is right (or at least i hope he is) mabye luck is coming our way for a change.

Was a bit disapointed with Santa and Benni Mac. I know they were both on inter duty but i mean if your not feeling it tell some one for gods sake! They both looked asleep out there. Bently i think was good Savage and Roberts were both on top of there game today.

Over all great result, hope we can start adding wins instead of just ties but hell ill take that agenst Chelsea anyday!

[tcj_jones]

Lucky, lucky Blackburn. We were very much in the game for the first 20 minutes, but were out-classed, out-played and out-thought by a vastly superior Chelsea side for the rest of the game. We were more than just hanging on for about 70 minutes, one of the worst games I've ever had to watch. Chelsea were sensational, with the exception of Sidwell, Kalou and Shevchenko, who were all sub-standard. Make no mistake, if Drogba and Lampard were fit, Chelsea would have won comfortably.

Friedel made a great save from Essien and good saves from Shevchenko,but the only two players worthy of MOTM were J. Cole and Essien, who were absolutely world class, just sensational. Savage played superbly for the first 20 minutes, but he and Dunn were just out-classed from then on.

Pedersen and McCarthy were shocking in the first half, unbelievably bad. Pedersen showed a real commitment in the second half to track back, but showed nothing going forward. McCarthy should be benched for such an abysmal performance. That was undoubtedly the worst I've seen him play.

We did not deserve a draw, but thank God we got it, and thank God Samba is ok.

EDIT: the one area Chelsea failed in was their lack of width. SWP didn't do much, but Cole and Malouda both wanted to cut inside and it made their play very narrow, and that suited us.

Further Edit: What an idiot Hughes looks. He's such a great manager who never acts unprofessionally, but he looked a right ###### after his interview. I dunno if it was mind games hge was playing but, either way, he looked a fool. Funny though.

[tcj_jones]

The ball did not travel marginally backwards it was a forwards pass, if you see my earlier post that's why I though he was offside too.

One of the worst offside decisions I've ever seen. Bloody linesman, doesn't help my "big club bias" argument with my friends!

[tcj_jones]

Further point: it seems many do not understand the offside rule, Sparky included...

[Rover Down Under]

No-one has mentioned the booing of Bentley. The commentators over here thought it was pathetic and pointless. I guess everyone at Stamford Bridge yesterday was also at Wembley on Wednesday, lame Southern chavs.

Sod the "goal", sick of reading arguments about it, was against us so don't care.

Another performance like that and Hughes should drop Benni for Derbs, permanently. I have mentioned his lazy attitude before and I'm fed up with it now, if I'd been there I would have asked him to donate this weeks wages to charity.

Why is Colin Hendry's spirit possessing Chris Samba? I hope he never visits a witch doctor to have it exorcised.

Happy with a point.

[tsnuf]

I reckon we could have played just the back four, Friedel and Savage, and come up with roughly the same performance! Very poor offensively, but very good defensively. Friedel and Samba... wow.

I thought Pedersen was dreadful going forward and defending. Belletti terrorized our left side all game because Pedersen wasn't marking him well. I would agree with the poster who asked for some left wing competition. Every time a player passed the ball to McCarthy, he would try to do some fancy flick that didn't work even once.. in a game where we needed to hold the ball up for a few seconds, he was worse than useless.. Santa Cruz wasn't much better, but at least he won some headers. Both forwards were guilty of receiving the ball, then passing it straight to some Chelsea players. I can handle them not scoring - Chelsea have a fantastic defense - but they sure didn't help us keep a clean sheet at all. I approved of the Roberts substitution, and from what little I saw, I wished he was on the whole game. Bentley and Dunn weren't bad per say, just fairly invisible.

I actually thought that we looked slow out there in midfield. Essien just burst right through Savage and Dunn on several occasions and exploited the space between the midfield and the defense to take some long shots. Thank goodness Lampard was injured.

Overall, pleased with the point, but on the balance of play, probably not deserved. The goal was onside in my opinion. Delighted with our defense, but hope the offense can put it together in the next game.

[Alan75]

One of the worst offside decisions I've ever seen. Bloody linesman, doesn't help my "big club bias" argument with my friends!

AH, you have a new arguement.

Rovers are a big club..............because the officials favoured them over Chelsea.

[MCMC1875]

What price 0-0?

I thank you!

[philipl]

I'm sorry but all you people who think the linesman sorry ref's assistant got it wrong, he didn't.

OK I watched on the TV but , as it happened, I reckoned he was offside. I was right and so was the assistant.

The ball, as numerous "action replays" showed was played forward to a player who only had Brad between himself and the goal. Simply put OFFSIDE: check it out.

Big mouth M is just that a big Mouth.

The Chelski team, which, btw, cost nigh on 100,000,000 pounds has the legs and stamina but not the guile and skill.

I thought Robbie, Chris, Ryan, Roquez and of course Brad were particularly strong. But the team played for each other and even André coming on for Chris made a superb challenge.

I will put it simply:

It was NOT offside and the whinging media bias is the only thing between us and being seen as a real presence in the Premier League.

This is my 51st season following the Rovers and I am convinced it will be one of the best I've ever experienced.

Get behind the team and we will definitely stride up to the winning rostrum in one of the three cup competitions we're involved in.

Come on Rovers.

I enjoyed reading this post!

Sorry been watching the rugby- direction the ball is passed in football is irrelevant unless there is an offside player but the ball gets passed to someone else making the offside player not interfering with the play. Was the Chelsea player in the centre of the pitch who didn't touch it at any stage offside?

Also thanks for the clarification that Benni was trying flicks every time he received the ball. I couldn't understand how or why he couldn't hold the ball up once in all the 60 minutes he was on the pitch. Roque was better than Benni but both he and Benni will need a heavy coaching session on retaining posession when Rovers are under that sort of pressure. Great that they were both thinking of creating goal scoring opportunities but neither of them gave Chelsea a worrying moment.